Cardinals, Astros respond to FBI hacking investigation
The St. Louis Cardinals responded Tuesday to public disclosure of the FBI's investigation into the team for allegedly hacking the computer databases of the Houston Astros.
"The St. Louis Cardinals are aware of the investigation into the security breach of the Houston Astros' database," the team's statement reads. "The team has fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so. Given that this is an ongoing federal investigation, it is not appropriate for us to comment further."
Cardinals officials are suspected of breaking into the Astros' team databases to gain access to information regarding statistics, scouting reports and trades, according toThe New York Times. Unnamed members of the Cardinals front office are under investigation by the FBI and prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The FBI has served the Cardinals and Major League Baseball with subpoenas, The New York Times reports. Authorities suspect that Cardinals employees hacked the Astros partly to sabotage Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, who was previously a Cardinals executive.
• FBI investigating Cardinals for hacking Astros internal network
Law enforcement believes Cardinals employees hacked into the Astros' network after Luhnow departed the team for Houston in 2011. The New York Times reports that team employees were concerned that Luhnow had brought structural information from the Cardinals' computer network to Houston.
The Astros also issued a statement on Tuesday.
"The Houston Astros are actively cooperating with an ongoing federal investigation," the team said. "We cannot comment on this matter."
MLB said it has been fully cooperating with the federal investigation.
"Once the investigative process has been completed by federal law enforcement officials, we will evaluate the next steps and will make decisions promptly," MLB said in a statement.
- Stanley Kay
